That was the last message.

My stomach dropped. I called her right away, and it rang for a long time before she picked up.

Her voice was faint. 「Katie, all done with work?」

I asked：「Mom, did you get the tests done?」

She paused.

「I did.」

「What did the doctor say?」

「Nothing serious.」

I could tell she was lying.

Whenever she didn't want me to worry, her voice went extra soft, like paper left in water too long — the slightest touch and it'd fall apart.

I was about to push her on it when someone rapped on the glass outside the window.

「I need to pay my bill, miss. What are you doing on the phone?」

All I could say was：「Mom, wait for me. I'll come over after my shift.」

She cut in immediately：

「Don't.」

「It's too late. Don't wear yourself out.」

「I'm already home.」

The line went dead. I stared at my phone, a slow panic building in my chest.

At one in the morning, the ER surged.

A car-accident victim came in, and the family shoved paperwork through my window, shouting themselves hoarse.

I didn't even have time to drink water.

Close to two, the department group chat pinged. Viola had posted a set of photos.

A hot-pot restaurant.

Her son grinning, holding up some kind of ribbon award. Her husband next to her, chopsticks mid-air, dropping tripe into her bowl.

The caption：

「Done with the parent-teacher conference. Treating the kiddo to a good meal. Being a mom means being tough — no matter how tired you are, it's worth it.」

The chat filled with thumbs-up.

「You work so hard, Viola.」

「Women with kids really have it rough.」

「Great kid. Mom deserves all the credit.」

I stared at that photo, my fingers going cold.

She hadn't needed someone to cover for her kid. She'd just wanted me to take her night shift so her family of three could sit around eating hot pot.

I closed the photo.

And saw that my mom had tried calling me again half an hour ago.

One missed call. 1:37 a.m.

I called back. No answer.

I called again. Still nothing.

I couldn't sit still. I told the ER nurse I needed to step into the hallway to make a call.

I'd barely stood up when Director Abbott's number came through.

「Katherine, did you leave your post during the night shift?」

I froze.

「I didn't. My mom just called me and I wanted to check if she's……」

His voice was ice.

「Do not handle personal matters during work hours.」

「Viola told me you've been emotionally unstable.」

「If you feel so hard done by on a night shift, you can spell it out at tomorrow's department meeting.」

I gripped the phone. 「Director Abbott, something might have happened to my mom.」

Two seconds of silence.

Then：

「Whose family doesn't have problems?」

「Stay at your window.」

That night, I didn't dare leave the window.

His words — “stay at your window” — were a lock, pinning me to my chair.

I processed payments with one hand and dialed my mom with the other.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Every call rang out unanswered.

At three thirty, the ER finally slowed down.

I used a bathroom break to call Aunt Anna downstairs.

Anna lived right across the hall from my mom. The second she picked up, her voice was panicked.

「Katie, your mom fell.」

A buzz whited out my skull. 「Where?」

「The stairwell entrance.」

「She said the pain in her legs was unbearable and she was trying to get downstairs to catch a cab to the hospital. She lost her footing.」

I nearly dropped the phone.

「Where is she now?」

「I called an ambulance. They just brought her to your hospital.」

I turned and ran toward the ER.

The nurses' station was chaos. I scanned the crowd and found her.

She was on a gurney, her face white as paper, one pant leg cut open, the skin beneath swollen tight and shining.

She saw me and still tried to smile. 「Katie, don't be scared.」

My tears hit the floor before I could stop them：「Why didn't you call me sooner?」

Her voice was so quiet.

「I did.」

「You didn't pick up.」

Four words. They hurt worse than anything she could have yelled at me.

I held her hand. It was ice cold.

The doctor needed a family member's signature to order tests. My hand shook so badly I could barely sign my own name.

After reviewing the scans, the doctor said she'd waited too long. They needed to check for inflammation and blood clots. She'd be admitted overnight for observation.

My mind went blank.

If I'd gone with her today.

If her morning appointment hadn't lapsed.

If someone had been there to catch her when the pain hit that afternoon.

If I'd answered that call in the middle of the night.

But there were no ifs.

My mother lay in the hospital bed, comforting me instead.

「It's nothing. Mom just took a little fall.」

「Don't let this hold you up at work.」

I looked at her and almost laughed. Her whole life, that had been her line. Don't let this hold you up.

When I was little and she threw out her back, she still got up early to make me porridge.

My senior year, she ran a fever of a hundred and two and still hauled herself to the market to work the stall.

Now she was lying in a hospital bed, and the first thing out of her mouth was still telling me not to miss work.

But what exactly had I missed?

I'd spent the whole night covering someone else's window.

And my mother had fallen alone in a stairwell.

Seven a.m. The next shift arrived.

My eyes were raw from the all-nighter. I'd barely stepped out of the billing office when I saw Viola strolling in with breakfast.

Soy milk, fried dough sticks, and a box of soup dumplings.

She spotted me and smiled first.

「Wow, Katherine, you look awful.」

「Come on, you're young. One night shift shouldn't wreck you like this.」

I said nothing. She leaned closer.

「Nothing went wrong at the window last night, did it?」

「Director Abbott told me you tried to walk off during your shift?」

I lifted my head.「My mom fell in the middle of the night. She's in the ER.」

Viola blinked.

The flicker of embarrassment vanished almost instantly.

「Well, she's already here then, isn't she?」

「So nothing got delayed.」

I stared at her：「Viola, didn't you tell me last night your husband was working late and nobody could watch your kid?」

Her expression shifted.「What are you getting at?」

I pulled out my phone and opened the hot-pot photo from her feed.

Her son holding up an award certificate. Her husband picking food onto her plate. A family of three, all smiles, picture-perfect.

Viola's face went hard.

「Why are you snooping through my posts?」

「When you asked me to cover your night shift, you said there was nobody at home.」

Her voice shot up immediately.

「A parent-teacher conference doesn't count?」

「My kid came in first. I took him out for hot pot. So what?」

「Your mom fell—it's not like I pushed her.」

The moment those words left her mouth, the fire in my chest finally broke loose.

「You knew my mom had a follow-up appointment.」

「And you still dumped the shift on me.」

She sneered.

「Dumped?」

「Director Abbott approved it.」

「Besides, you're single, so you have no real family obligations. Helping a coworker out once in a while isn't going to kill you.」

Patients and their families moved up and down the hallway. A few stopped to look.

Viola saw the audience and got louder.

「Girls these days, honestly.」

「Cover one night shift and she acts like it's the end of the world.」

「When I was her age, everyone just toughed it out. That's how it worked.」

Director Abbott happened to step out of his office right then.

He frowned at me.「Katherine, what's all this noise first thing in the morning?」

Viola's eyes went red on cue.

「Director Abbott, I was just checking in on her.」

「She keeps saying I made her mother fall.」

「I can't afford that kind of accusation.」

Director Abbott looked at me, his expression cold：「Katherine, don't bring personal emotions into the workplace.」

I said：「Director Abbott, I'm requesting leave for today. My mother's been admitted, and I need to be with her.」

He didn't agree right away. Instead：

「There's a department meeting this morning. You will be there.」

「Last night on shift you took a personal call, lost control, got into it with a coworker. That all needs to be accounted for.」

I looked at him. 「My mother is in the hospital.」

He said：

「You're not the only person here with family.」

「You'll do your written apology statement at the meeting first. We can talk about leave after that.」

Viola stood behind him, head down, dabbing at her eyes.

But I saw it. The corner of her mouth was turned up.

At nine a.m., a notice went out in the department group chat.

All-staff meeting.

Director Abbott tagged me specifically.

「Katherine Simmons, have your written apology statement ready.」

「Young employees need to think about the team instead of letting a little personal business throw off the whole department.」

I stood in the hallway outside the inpatient ward, staring at the message.

Inside the room, my mother was still on an IV drip. She called out to me through the door.

「Katie, don't fight with the higher-ups.」

I pressed the phone screen dark and gave a quiet mm.

But inside, I already knew. This time, I wasn't going to swallow it.

At nine thirty, I got my mother settled and walked to the department conference room.

Everyone from the Billing Office was already there.

Viola sat at Director Abbott's right, eyes red, a cup of hot soy milk on the table in front of her.

Like she'd just suffered some tremendous injustice.

The moment I stepped in, the conference room went quiet.

Director Abbott looked up. 「Katherine. Sit down.」

I didn't sit：「My mother is still in the hospital. Whatever you need to say, say it fast.」

His expression darkened.

「Is that your attitude?」

Viola immediately ducked her head, wiping tears.

「Director, just drop it. She's young, her family's going through something, she's in a bad place—I don't blame her.」

So thoughtful.

If I hadn't seen her at the hot pot restaurant last night, face shiny with grease and grinning ear to ear, I might've actually believed her.

Director Abbott rapped on the table.

「This meeting isn't about singling anyone out.」

「The attitude in this department has been slipping lately.」

「Certain younger staff have no sense of the team. One night shift and they're full of grievances.」

His eyes stayed on me the entire time he said it.

Somebody nearby whispered：

「Katherine, just apologize to Viola.」

「We're all in the same department. Don't make this ugly.」

「Director Abbott's doing this for your own good.」

For my own good.

Right. That old line.

They took my nights and used them to fill someone else's schedule, then told me it was good experience.

I said：「Why should I apologize?」

The conference room went still for a beat.

Viola's tears came faster.

「Katherine, don't be like this.」

「I know your mom's in the hospital. I know you're hurting.」

「But last night's shift wasn't something I forced on you—Director Abbott scheduled it.」

She looked around at everyone.

「How was I supposed to know your mother would fall?」

「So what, from now on, anytime someone's parent has a headache we just can't schedule shifts anymore?」

Someone nodded.

「She's right, nobody wanted this to happen.」

「Viola's got it hard too, with her kid and her elderly parents.」

「Katherine, what happened to your mom is awful, but you can't put all the blame on a coworker.」

I looked at these people and suddenly it all felt absurd.

When I covered Viola's night shifts, they said I was young, I could handle it.

When my mother fell, they said I couldn't blame a coworker.

At the end of it all, they got every benefit, and I carried every consequence alone.

Director Abbott slid a sheet of paper across the table.

「Here's the written apology template.」

「Fill it out.」